The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
The Square of Sevens is the third novel by Laura Shepherd-Robinson. It was published in June 2023, but I started seeing a buzz about it on social media absolutely months ago. I loved her previous two novels, particularly Daughters of Night, which was one of my favourite reads of last year.
But I have a rule about hardbacks – I won’t buy them full price. I kept checking for The Square of Sevens in Sainsbury’s, but it’s not the sort of book they tend to stock. In the end, I broke my rule and bought it for full price in Waterstones. And I wasn’t disappointed. As a bonus, my copy was signed by the author and had beautiful sprayed edges (‘spredges’). I’ve never had a book with spredges before! If you buy it from an independent bookseller, you get different spredges.
The Square of Sevens is a beautiful and intricate read set in Georgian times. It is the story of a young girl, known only as Red. As a child, she travels around Cornwall with her father, a ‘cunning-man’, and learns to tell fortunes using the Square of Sevens. When her father dies, she goes to live in Bath, where she is raised as a lady.
But Red can’t let go of the past. She needs to know more about her father, and she needs to know who her mother was, and how she died.
When she finds herself alone again at the age of 16, Red’s skill with the Square of Sevens attracts the attention of a rich and powerful family, the De Lacys. But are they only interested in her fortune telling, or is there more to it than that? The family is embroiled in a legal battle over a large inheritance and will stop at nothing to get what they want. Can Red trust any of them?
As Red gets closer to finding out the truth about her family, she finds herself in increasing danger.
The Square of Sevens is very cleverly broken down into four distinct ‘books’, each focusing on the fortune of a key character. Each of the books is divided into 21 chapters and is named after a card and its particular meaning. At the start of Book 2, there is a useful De Lacy family tree, which I kept referring back to. The story is told mainly in the first person by Red, but some chapters focus on Lazarus Darke, a man who has worked closely with the De Lacys and is seeking more information about them.
The Square of Sevens is a stunning book. It is every bit as good as I’d hoped it would be. It’s not a light or easy read, but if you enjoy historical fiction, particularly historical mysteries, I can’t recommend it highly enough!
This looks really good. And I’ve never seen or even heard of Spredges. Certainly very attractive although most of my reading is ebooks these days
It is so good! I only started hearing about spredges a year or two ago. Some people seem to be obsessed with them! I’ve still never read an ebook, but no doubt it will happen at some point.
Do they put the books back-to-front on the shelf too, so as to display the spredge. Identify by spredge rather than by title?
No, but they probably display them on a table rather than a shelf. I reckon they only do a limited, early print run with spredges, so they can display them on a table until they sell out.
What a beautiful book, I think I’d be tempted by it too. I like the sound of the story, but I think this is one to be read rather than listened to?
It really is a beautiful book. I’m not sure how it would work to listen to, but I think it would probably work.
Does it feature any of the characters from her previous two books?
It doesn’t. It is completely separate from them.